“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace.” Luke 19:38-42
Dear Lord Jesus, the ache (often, demand) within our hearts for peace is inescapable and unrelenting. Let me get specific: the ache within my heart is unrelenting. Though I already rest in you-plus-nothing for my forgiveness and righteousness, I still get sucker punched by the tantalizing illusion that peace can be found in something or someone else, or in some other place.
Some days, Jesus, I’m like Esau. My peace-pangs take over, and in the moment, I’ll gladly settle for a steamy bowl of oatmeal in hand over the hope of a future banquet I cannot smell. The provision of a open bag of snacks blinds my eye, deafens my ear, and dulls my taste buds to the sumptuous fare of the wedding feast of the Lamb—the Day when my longing heart will be fully set free to delight in you. “Maranatha!” Even so, Lord Jesus, come . . . hasten that day!
Some days, Jesus, I get lost in the world of “if only.” If only there were no tensions in any of my relationships, I’d be a happy man. If only the phone wouldn’t ring again, demanding a little more of me than I have to offer, I’d be fine. If only I lived somewhere else, had a different vocation, had more money, had fewer hassles, had lived in a different era, had never been deeply wounded, had waited five years to get married, were twenty years younger . . . if only.
But right now I hear you saying to me, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace” (Luke 19:42). Indeed, Jesus, you alone, this day and every day, are the Prince of Peace. Only in union and in communion with you do I find the true and sufficient peace for which I long. You give a peace that transcends and passes all understanding. You give a peace that guards and rules in our hearts. You give a peace that is absolutely inviolate and trustworthy. You, yourself, are our peace, Lord Jesus!
I join the chorus of those who cry out, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke 19:38), for you, Jesus, are the king of glory and grace. Until the Day of consummate peace, continue to free me from the delusion that peace can be found anywhere else but in you. So very Amen I pray, in your indefatigable and delightful name.